[1]Jerrell S. Redmill , in orange, represented by attorney David Arcuri, faces a judge who accepted his remorsefulness for robbing Chase Bank.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The 54-year-old bank robber whose worst past crimes were mischief and disorderliness when he was in his early 20s apologized to the court yesterday and said he was truly ashamed.
Jerrell S. Redmill was in Lewis County Superior Court to be sentenced following a plea deal in connection with this past spring’s incident at Chase Bank in Chehalis. His wife, son and two grandchildren sat in the benches behind him as he spoke.
“Desperate or not, I’m responsible for what I did,” Jerrell S. Redmill.
The Kelso resident has been locked up in the Lewis County Jail since May 21, when after he handed a teller a note demanding cash, he got into his PT Cruiser and headed south on Interstate 5.
After he was pulled over by law enforcement officers who followed him into Cowlitz County, money was falling out of his shorts pockets, dropping onto the ground.
Centralia defense attorney David Arcuri appealed to the court to treat his client leniently, noting the crime was very desperate conduct out of a desperate situation related to injuries and being unable to work.
What Redmill did was clearly second-degree robbery, it just happened to take place at a bank which made it first-degree robbery, Arcuri said. Which is what Redmill pleaded guilty to.
The difference between the two in terms of penalty, would be a few months in the county jail or around three years in prison, according to the lawyer.
In Redmill’s case, he faced a sentence of something between 31 to 41 months of incarceration.
Judge James Lawler indicated to Redmill he didn’t doubt his sincerity.
“I’ve seen a lot of people come before me,” Lawler said. “I accept that you are one of the few that are truly remorseful.
“I will accept the deal and I will impose the low end of the range, 31 months.”
The little more than $1,000 the Kelso man gained from the robbery was recovered when he was arrested, on the ground outside his car and the rest on the driver’s side floor.
The same bank on South Market Boulevard was robbed [2] in March of last year, by a pair of local men who got away briefly with less than $2,500 from Chase, moments after a failed attempt at the nearby Twin Star Credit Union – which keeps no cash in its drawers.